3.16.2015

Meet "Mike New Bike"

I really don't have a name for him/her yet. I guess I will come up with one later.

I've been looking to go old school and simple with my mountain biking experience for awhile. Last fall I sold the 2006 Cannondale 26" I built up a few years ago with parts and pieces from my previous Cannondale ride. I parted with Blue Bomber with the hopes that I would either just ride my cross bike or else get a basic 29er in the spring of 2015.

Well, as I was in trying to get a very bent rim trued for a friend's bike I was borrowing for Iceman, I spotted a gem of a bike. A 2014 Specialized Crave SL. Single speed, aluminum frame, rigid all around. Old school. It was truly love at first sight. And the best part was that it was on sale for nearly $200 off regular price due to it being a 2014. I didn't have money to put down for months, I just figured it would always be there waiting for me - since it was made to be, right? Of course, as soon as I had money for it, I called and the size L was gone. The only "local" place that had one was out in Holland at Cross Country Cycle. And it was their last. The 2015 was not an option as it's paint scheme is terrible and of course, it would be fetching nothing less than MSRP.

So in January, I put money down on the L at Cross Country, they were kind enough to store it on layaway and I paid it off in March. What a beauty. What fun to ride!! First thing I did when riding was instinctively reach for the gears. Nothing. I chuckled to myself. Took my little buddy Nick for the first ride on a melty, cool, dreary and cloudy day. What fun. 13mph max. I think it's going to be a fun ride. Let's hope I can put a lot of miles on "Mike New Bike" in 2015.

Starting to plan the route for 2015 NightShift! Now I know who's coming with.

Here's some pics...



My little buddy happy to be outside again.

My two dirt riders. Love them both.

M.I.A.

Wow, I guess it's been 7 months since I've posted to my dead blog page. A few things happened last fall, let me recap briefly:

Rode Merrell Trail for the first time. Fun, but not terribly impressed.
Rode a small section of Cannonsburg Ski Hill. Miss that place.
Blew out my shoulder (dislocated it) riding a Jet Ski. Got to visit the fine people at Grayling Hospital.
Rode with the kids a lot to gain back confidence in shoulder.
Rode the Tour de Donut with my mom - where we didn't finish dead last (and she crashed into me.)
Rode a section of the White Pine in the first ever Memorial ride (since the ride is defunct now)
Rode to Pando to watch fellow Rapid Wheelmen race the Classic.
Rode around the MetroHealth Marathon as a spectator, in which my wife was running.
Raced in the Lowell50. Got lost. DNF.
Rode to Luton Park and back. My one and only ride there in 2014. Sad. Pathetic. Depressing. Did I say sad?
Raced in Iceman. Got extremely muddy and frozen. Flatted out. DNF.
Rode to work and back 4 times.

There you have it. On with 2015, I say. The hell with 2014.